Jamil Alessandro

My MA in intellectual history is a window into my multiplicity of interests; it allows me to consider developments in artistic, cultural, musical and popular history. I research Jewish 19th century history but am also a poet, musician and artist.

I organise conferences, on topics ranging from the Frankfurt School and Idealist philosophy to Latin American History and Environmental geography.

Music is my major love, I was the timpanist last year in the premier of Charles Gonoud’s Opera, Polyueucte and also play extensively in folk music groups throughout the capital.

I write and perform and have run reading groups and poetry nights. I have also taught music, both as individual tuition, and in groups.

Tutoring Experience

In Summer 2018, I tutored three PPE students at Goldsmiths University, two of whom finished with first class honours degrees, and the other with a high two-one, mathematically the best possible outcomes given their starting grades,
I also helped with their research methodology and structuring of their dissertations for which they all received firsts.

I tutored one LSE politics student with a module on Nietzschean philosophy, from which they came out with a distinction.

I also tutored a Politics Student, studying the Edexcel course. He was the only student in his class with an A star. I devised a number of visual and conceptual instruments for mapping various ideologies in a way in which they could be compared simultaneously.

In Summer 2017, I tutored two students. Both achieved A star grades in Edexcel economics. In the case of one the graphic element of the course had been a particular struggle, but in the exam he used graphs beyond the syllabus to illustrate his convincing argumentation.

In Summer 2016, I tutored a student at Northampton School for Girls who had been failing economics papers and attaining unsatisfactory E marks in politics. I utilised a number of visual and explanatory techniques to make the numerical element of economics more accessible and outline ways in which interest for the subject material could be employed in making essays richer and more substantive. She achieved a B in Economics and an A in Politics (AQA and Edexcel respectively.)

I tutored a number of further students in Economics, specifically on the main historical and theoretical schools, and how to link that with the contemporary and sociological dimensions of economics. Focusing on the structuring of essays and pointers to persuasiveness was generally the focus, especially since many of the students who didn’t feel so secure in writing essays. All of my students achieved either an A or A Star.

I taught a number of students A-level English Literature, Philosophy and History. During this, I have outlined the necessities of the course demands, and focused on where students perceive any difficulties and discrepancies between how they see their work and essay marks. Finding and augmenting elements which students find enjoyable has been key to my approach as well as utilising my broad interdisciplinary knowledge to find pieces of information, theorists, dates, topics and historiographies that appeal to students and to which they can can anchor their own thoughts and ideas.

Tutoring Approach

I begin any tutoring with a clear translation of the syllabus,to the student, presenting clearly the weighting of assessment criteria before evaluating and discussing how this might align with the students strengths, and areas where they might be struggling or lack confidence.

This stage involves the outline of goals, achievements, targets and routes, the amount of work required and strategies, especially those that involves longer term-arcs or repeated shorter practice, to be returned to throughout the course of our time together.

Central to my broader tutoring strategy is identifying areas of interest, or strong impression (whether it be love, curiosity or even dislike) to establish the process of learning as an engaging pursuit, as something that extends beyond the classroom, and our sessions, to the independent thinking and interests of the student.

Whether dates, pictorial representations, or figures, I find there are hooks for every student upon which difficult bits of information can be hung when trying to fill in a larger picture.

Aided by my breadth of knowledge and interests, I am able to draw on an extensive repertoire to be able to find these hooks, and offset difficult learning processes with engaging insights and activities which create a solid base and establish confidence for any questions.

At the same time, having a musical and artistic background, I am able to present genuinely difficult concepts and processes in imaginative ways- often it is merely a case of rearranging things in lots of different ways to find one that sticks.

As a philosopher, I am also able to be precise, and as a poet I am able to describe and compare in compelling or evocative ways.

Analogy in particular, is a useful tool, for making clear something that might not appear obvious as it is presented!